Lunch with Nancy Lopez

Today I attended the Hispanic Heroes Luncheon at the Crowne Plaza in West Palm Beach. The luncheon was sponsored by The Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Palm Beach County in conjunction with the LPGA's 2008 ADT Championship. Nancy Lopez was honored at the luncheon with a Hispanic Heroes Award for being a Hispanic pioneer who broke down barriers allowing Hispanic women to realize their dreams of becoming a professional golfers.

I had a chance to visit with Nancy briefly before the luncheon began. We visited about her being a spokesperson for American Express Women's Golf Month, then shared some stories about the Hy-Vee Classic from 2006 in Des Moines and the times we visited at the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California. Nancy's daughter Ashley is getting married at the Villages in February 2009, so she and Ashley were headed to the Villages after the luncheon to work on wedding plans.

The ADT Championship is being held this November at Trump International in West Palm Beach...I'm looking forward to attending that event in a few short weeks.

~Le Ann

Downtown West Palm Beach

Saturday morning Kathy and I walked along the beach before spending the afternoon in downtown West Palm Beach. We ate lunch at Bradley’s on Clematis Street, then headed to the Breaker’s Hotel to check out the historic landmark hotel. When we realized the valet parking was $30, we decided to make our parking fee worth it and walked around much of the hotel, checking out the outdoor recreation areas, inside décor in the various restaurants and hotel shops.

Sunday I had breakfast at the Juno Beach Café before I met Ed and Mallory for golf on the Palmer course. We made it to the 6th hole before we got poured on and decided to call it a day—heading for the clubhouse and a rain check. The rain cleared later in the day but I had already settled in for some NFL football on the couch.

Tomorrow I'm attending a luncheon where Nancy Lopez is being honored, plus dog sitting for Riley and Scout for two nights...should be a good time!

~Le Ann

Ryder Cup - Day 3

Today was an absolute thrill to be part of the USA regaining the Ryder Cup. It was great to watch the team play so well in the Singles Matches--winning seven matches en-route to winning the 37th Ryder Cup with 16 1/2 to 11 1/2 points. The celebration on the balcony of the clubhouse was cool--there was champagne flowing everywhere as the corks flew and the crowd chanted U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A! To put a hush to the "Ole" song, the Americans came back with the same tune, but changed the words to "No Way, No Way, No Way, No Way." Lots of red, white and blue and happy people all around Valhalla.

This evening we went downtown Louisville to 4th Street Live for the post Cup block party. It was crazy and I couldn't believe all the people there...makes me wonder what the airport will be like tomorrow morning since everyone stayed in town Sunday night.

Back to West Palm tomorrow! Way to go, Team USA!

~Le Ann

Ryder Cup - Day 2

Day 2 at the Ryder Cup was another good day for Team USA...although we started the day with a three point lead over the European Team, we played well today ending the morning Foursome with a score of 7-5 and maintained the two point lead by the end of the day for a 9-7 lead. The USA Team needs 14 1/2 points to capture the Cup while the Euros will need 14 points to retain the Cup. A lot will depend on how both teams play tomorrow in the Singles Matches.

We're hoping for a champagne toast on the 18th green tomorrow afternoon!

~Le Ann

Ryder Cup - Day 1

Today began with the Foursome matches in the morning, followed by the Four-Ball matches this afternoon. There's a lot of excitement in the air as the USA Team scored 3 points to the Euro teams 1 point this morning and pulled ahead to end day one with 5 1/2 points vs. 2 1/2 points. When the Learning Center closed at 7 p.m. we raced over to the 18th green to watch the last two groups finish. It's great to see all the fans dressed in red, white and blue and chanting U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!

Stay tuned for Day 2 tomorrow!

~Le Ann

Louisville Slugger Museum

Things have been cleaned up at Valhalla and everything is on schedule for the Ryder Cup to begin on Friday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were practice rounds, with the opening ceremonies this afternoon.

Last night we attended a PGA Magazine party at the Louisville Slugger Museum. It was fun to tour and see how baseball bats are made. All attendees were given personalized Louisville Slugger baseball bats, complete with the Ryder Cup logo. A great keep sake and trinket for my new office!

Everyone is excited for Day 1 of the Ryder Cup tomorrow.

~Le Ann

Hurricane Ike visits Louisville

Well--we survived the outskirts of Hurricane Ike yesterday in Louisville. We had a Play Golf America women's golf event scheduled from 1 to 4 pm and fought 40-60 mph winds. At some points there were up to 80 mph wind gusts. We were outside a good portion of the time and it was actually impossible to walk. We watched huge trees on the golf course snap and fall right on the course...they were at least 60 year old trees.

There is power out all over town due to downed power lines. Stop lights are out, restaurants are closed, gas stations, etc. Traffic yesterday was a mess. Our hotel lost power yesterday afternoon at 3:30 pm. At 11 pm we left the Marriott and went to the Brown Hotel (THE hotel in Louisville--on the register of historic places).

Today schools in Louisville are closed and people are urged to stay inside and off the roads. Luckily we have an "off" day at the Ryder Cup but went out to Valhalla to make sure the Learning Center is ready to go for Tuesday morning.

~Le Ann

Greetings from Louisville, KY

Today was a fun travel day...for some reason I went northeast to get northwest--left Palm Beach via Philadelphia to get to Louisville. But hey, it's good for piling up the airline frequent flyer miles!

Once I landed, my boss Ron picked me up and we drove around Louisville a little bit. First on our list was Churchill Downs--Home of the Kentucky Derby. The twin spires on top the grandstands are the most recognizable architectural feature of Churchill Downs and are used as a symbol of the track and the Derby. The Kentucky Derby first was held in 1875, the same year Churchill Downs opened.

Racing at Churchill Downs occurs in two meets. The spring meet starts one week before the Derby and continues until early July. The Kentucky Derby is held the first Saturday in May and the Kentucky Oaks is run on Friday, the day before the Derby. A fall meet picks up in late October and closes Thanksgiving weekend in late November.

In addition to the track, clubhouse and stables, Churchill Downs also contains the Kentucky Derby Museum which focuses on the history of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs. While there were no horses there when we visited, it was still a thrill to walk around and take in the sights!

Ryder Cup prep tomorrow!

~Le Ann

Defeat of Jesse James Days

I had a great weekend in Northfield to celebrate Defeat of Jesse James Days. I flew in Thursday and got to Northfield in time for "townie" night on Bridge Square. Besides the usual "fair food" it was fun to see friends/family and spend the night visiting.

Friday I ran some errands, cleaned the house and met Kelsey at Hoffman Photography to order her senior pictures. Seems hard to believe she's a senior, but fun to go through all the senior year things. College visits and completing applications will be next. Friday night we went back downtown for more junk food and spent some time visiting with Tom and Pat Warner...we reminisced about the many vacations we've taken together to Mexico, Hawaii and the Cayman Islands.

Saturday I played golf with Brooke, Lorie, Donna and Barb. Always fun to get a chance to play Northfield Golf Club (my fourth time this summer!) Saturday evening the entire family stayed home for pizza and movie night...a rare commodity these days to get time for all of us to be together.

Sunday I went to church for the dedication of Bethel's new worship space...as everyone says--it's absolutely wonderful. Especially since I hadn't been there in months, it was a real change. Brooke and I went to the parade, then downtown for one more last junk food fix--corn on the cob, a burger and cotton candy!

I took my usual 6 am flight out of MSP to West Palm...pretty uneventful flight landing at 12:30 so I was able to be back at work at 1:15. It will be a crazy week this week as we're all ready to leave for the Ryder Cup on Saturday.

~Le Ann

Labor Day Weekend

I've had a fun three-day weekend. Saturday I played in a Patriot Golf Day tournament at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie. I was paired with Joe Steranka, the CEO of the PGA and John Linn, the golf course superintendent and Rick Reider, the assistant superintendent. Playing with the CEO has its benefits--we played from the first tee in the shotgun start. The morning began with an opening ceremonies--complete with color guard, marching band and gospel choir. All activities are celebrating the second annual Patriot Golf Day--which generates funds for educational scholarships for families of those disabled or killed in the line of duty. There are 3,650 golf courses across the country hosting similar events this weekend.

Our group shot ten under par and finished in second place. The tournament generated $2,500 for Patriot Golf Day--with additional golf events planned for the rest of the weekend as well.

Sunday I walked along the beach before joining Ed and Darrell for 18 holes on the Champ course at PGA National. After golf I joined two friends for dinner--we cooked chicken and brats on the grill and played Wii.

Monday I walked along the beach again then went to the pool with my iPod and a book to relax for the rest of the day. My friend Susan came over with pizza for dinner and we had hoped to watch the RNC, but Gustav pre-empted the convention.

I have a 2 1/2 day work week as I return to Minnesota for the weekend on Thursday afternoon--just in time to avoid Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike. Never a dull moment in Florida during Hurricane season!

~Le Ann